The Gold Knight
by King Excalibur
Summary: My first attempt at writing Maple fanfic.Read and review please
1. The Prophecy

**The Prophecy**

**D**ances with Balrog sat on his chief's chair, one leg crooked up as he studied the pieces of paper laid out in front of him. He took up one and studied its details. On it wrote, "_Name: Micah Fisherman" _A photo was tagged loosely to the corner of the paper with a paper clip. He flipped the pages carelessly, skimming through its contents.

With a sigh, Dances with Balrog set it down and looked up. A small boy with hair the color of flames shuffled uneasily under his gaze. "Look up, boy," Dances with Balrog barked. Hesitantly the boy raised his head and stared at him wide-eyed. Dances with Balrog smiled wryly. "Welcome to the family of warriors." Upon hearing those words, the boy's face lit up with a smile. "Oh thank you!" He cried out joyfully. Taking a hurried bow, the boy left the Chief's house and scampered off, no doubt reporting his good news.

Dances with Balrog shook his head and stepped down from his chief's chair. He walked to the exit of his tent and with a slight pause; he waved aside his curtain and stepped out of his den. Shading his silt-like eyes against the hot sun, Dances with Balrog made his way over to the Perion Street Corner.

"Going hunting?" A familiar voice called out cheerfully.

Dances with Balrog turned around in surprise. "Ayan!" He returned the greeting with equal enthusiasm when he saw the tan, pink-haired girl waving at him. "I was just going to check on the areas around here, my bones are going to rust if I stay in that prison for one more second," He laughed good-humoredly.

Ayan would have none of that. "You have to watch out for the monsters, they've been getting more and more restless lately."

"I know, I can take care of myself you know? I'm the chief of this land for god's sake!" He said exasperatedly.

"You're not getting any younger you know?" She rebutted, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yes yes, now may I take leave your Highness? I haven't got all day," He said with sarcasm. Without waiting for her reply, he turned and headed down to the street corner.

Dances with Balrog walked some way along the street and then when he reached a large tree stump, he abruptly turned towards the right. Immediately he heard a rustle just behind of the dead bracken near him. His hands sprang to his sides, poised above his axes. Suddenly the rustling got more aggressive and an axe stump jumped out at him.

Spontaneously, he lashed out both of his arms and a pair of axes flew out of his hands and back. The puzzled stump stood there, its eyes crossing. Suddenly the stump split itself into three neat slices and landed onto the ground with a hollow thump. Dances with Balrog placed his axes back by his sides and collected the firewood. Frowning with worry, he studied the three pieces of wood. _"The monsters are getting too aggressive these days, don't tell me…"_ he let his voice trail off, not wishing to complete the sentence.

Dances with Balrog looked over the side of the street and jumped down with practiced familiarity. Landing onto the floor with a soft thud, he dusted himself and checked around his surroundings. "Ah," He exclaimed when he spotted it. A door was embedded deep inside the side of the Perion Street Corner. Normally one would not be able to see it, seeing how it hid into the shadows so well. But being someone who had hardly left Perion since birth, Dances with Balrog knew the place like the back of his hand.

Placing one grizzled hand onto its oaken surface, he felt its smooth texture before he eased it open, poking his head through.

The wild boars were shuffling about in their usual pig-like manner. He breathed a sigh of relief, no signs of aggression here. Just as he turned, prepared to leave, something caught the corner of his eye. Dances with Balrog twisted his head quickly, sure enough, there was a boy not more than ten was hiding surreptitiously behind a rock, a makeshift wooden club in his hands. He had bright yellow hair that reflected the sun's rays, turning it to a rich golden color. His eyes were squinted, no doubt concentrating on the wild boars, but his eyes had a glint of intelligence and defiance.

Dances with Balrog felt the urge to call out to him and warn him of the dangers of hunting here. But by some impulse, he held back and watched what the boy would do.

The boy crouched low, his eyes intent on a boar that he had marked out to be his victim. His face was bathed in sweat as he concentrated hard. His timing had to be perfect. And then the boar broke away from its herd. The boy gave a war-cry and charged out from his rock. The startled boar had hardly any time to react before the boy hit it on its head with a loud bonk. The boar shook its mane wildly to recover from the shock. Then it looked up and growled at the boy. He backed off a little. The boar pawed the ground angrily and charged at the boy, enraged by his childish act. The boy gave a short cry of alarm and took off running in the other direction. Dances with Balrog stepped out, half bemused half worried. The boy sure had some backbone to attack a boar like that.

The boy, still running as fast as he could, was nearing towards a wall; it seemed that the boar would surely catch up with him and then it would be the end of it. Just as Dances with Balrog prepared to fling his axe at the boar, the boy suddenly jumped up and flipped over the boar, landing neatly on his feet. The charging boar had no time to react at all and charged straight into the wall, which resulted in a heap of broken bones and rubble.

Dances with Balrog was impressed. That boy would make a good warrior. He walked over to the boy, who was rejoicing over his kill. "You there," he called out. The boy turned to see who it was and his eyes widened when he saw the renowned warrior standing before him.

"What's your name?" Dances with Balrog asked.

"L..Leo," The boy flustered, tripping over his words, "Leo Greystorm."

"_Well then, Leo Greystorm, how would you like to become a part of the warrior's family?"_


	2. Leo Greystorm

**Leo Greystorm**

Leo awoke to the sound of birds chirping faintly in the distant. He frowned. "It's that dream again…" Leo muttered, placing a hand to his forehead. That dream had been recurring ever since he was a little boy, and it had haunted him ever since. Leo sat up, suddenly realizing where he was. Quickly he scrambled to a standing position. Losing his balance slightly, he nearly fell back and steadied himself just before he hit the thermal crust. Sulfur fumes boiled upwards from the red hot ooze around him, causing his eyes and nose to sting. He tried taking a step forward, eager to be gone. But he misplaced his footing and nearly stepped onto hot lava. Desperately trying to regain his balance, he lurched forward. But his weight carried forward and he was in the danger of landing face first into the lava. Closing his eyes shut, Leo prepared to feel the hot burn on his face.

Suddenly he felt a hand grip on him and pull him back. "Gods above Leo! I leave you alone for two hours and you can't even keep out of trouble for that long," Ezra Greystorm laughed as he gripped his wrists and hauled him to safer ground, leaning back for leverage.

"One of these days you're going to kill yourself with all the trouble that you get into, the moment you leave sight of your big brother you do just that," Ezra complained.

"I can take care of myself just fine," Leo frowned. "no need for you to care." He added. Leo grumbled at the sight of his clothes; they were all caked with mud from the time that he had slept on the Sulfuric Plains. No doubt Ma was going to berate him about it.

"Have you got any idea how hard I work to give you those clothes?" His mother would yell. "Do you know how much they had _cost_?"

And then he would hear to no end of yelling and screaming for the rest of the day. Of course that was one reason he liked going out to the Sulfuric Plains to forage for plants and perhaps even a few lucky-finds.

Ezra brought out a bottle of water and sloshed it on his back, wetting it instantly.

It was a frustrating day for Leo today. They'd been searching for plants and objects to sell at the Town Market and all he had collected were a few lava lilies, a bag of blood weed and a few coins.

"This is a complete waste of time," Leo said. He brought his boot down hard onto a twig, watching it snap into two. "Let's go do something else," He suggested.

Ezra cocked his head, his mop of pale yellow hair swinging. "We can always go to the Henesys Park for a walk I guess?"

"Let's go then," Leo didn't want to waste anymore time in this derelict area.

Flowers and plants bloomed all around them, the first few telltale signs that spring was nearing. Daisies swayed to and fro in the soft cold wind, Leo soon found his anger fading away, giving way to a sense of freedom. Trees interlocked into a canopy above them, filtering the hot sun rays.

"Ah, nothing like a relaxing stroll in the park," Leo sighed contentedly. Suddenly he saw a faint flash of darkness beyond the bushes and then it was gone.

"I agree, the park is just so…" Ezra's comment was cut off abruptly by Leo's hand cupped over his mouth. Leo glared at his older brother, commanding absolute silence.

Stealthily, Leo and Ezra crept towards the bushes and peered over it. Their eyes widened when they saw three men on large silver manes. _A silver mane! _Even one silver mane could fetch him more than enough money for him to sustain his family for over a year. These men must be really rich and powerful people to get one, no doubt having connections to the royalty of Ellinia. Leo turned to leave, not wanting to have anything to do with people like them. Ezra followed Leo, but bumped into him instead. Leo yelped and lost his balance, crunching hard onto the gravel.

Immediately the men turned, glaring at Leo and Ezra. Seeing no need to hide anymore, Leo stood up and faced them. Ezra gingerly stood up, his hands to his side where his dagger was. The men shifted slightly and a shaft of sunlight illuminated their faces. Leo gasped in shock. They were no more than boys their age!

Leo looked past them and saw that a fire had broken out some way back. The flames were black, indicating that it was a magic fire. Leo gritted his teeth. So these boys were mages. What were they doing here? Boys so young such as them should know very well the consequences of using Magic before their Naming.

"I am Leo Greystorm," Leo proclaimed loudly. The boys remained impassive as if his name meant nothing to them. Leo ignored their lack of response and continued, "We demand to know who you are and why boys so young like you are using Magic." Leo stood tall, his hands curled into fists at his sides. But still he looked insignificant next to the three strangers riding their majestic mane.

The middle rider, a black-haired boy, glared at Leo. Then he flinched, his coal-hard eyes widening in surprise for a brief moment before resuming his disdainful expression. Leo was surprised himself, but he struggled to keep his face non-emotional. Do they recognize me? Impossible, Leo thought.

"He asked for your names," Ezra came forward, taking his younger brother's side. Leo felt a surge of happiness and gratefulness as Ezra stood next to him. Ezra gestured at the dark flame, "That looks like a magic fire to me."

The boy turned his nose up, his eyes colder than ever. "My name is Mecane Cayer, of the Arcanus Guild," he said as if his name should bring them onto their knees.

Ezra stiffened at the mention of his guild. "The Arcanus Guild has no business here, shouldn't your guild master, Sabine Castrylis, have told you that?"

How does he know about that? Leo wondered. Leo's knowledge of mages was very limited and he hardly knew anything beyond recognizing Magic and that the mage-in-training must be old enough in order to go through the Naming to use Magic.

"That's not for you to know, its guild business," Mecane growled. He reached towards the wand at his side.

"Stop!" Ezra commanded, frightening Leo. Suddenly he had out his twin daggers and held them in a throwing position. "You better let go of that wand or I'm going to make sure one of these daggers hit you before you can even utter a single spell," Ezra threatened. Just how much does he know about mages? Leo thought to himself.

Mecane's eyes flashed with hatred but did not move his hand. A tall slender boy beside him shifted uncomfortably, "Mecane, let's just put it down and go, Princess Reiya…"

"I know I know," Mecane spat. He withdrew his hand and turned to leave. But Ezra wouldn't let them. "I won't let you go until you give me that ring around your finger." Ezra smiled slyly, indicating to the emerald studded gold ring on his hand, the emerald was shaped into a snake, it almost seemed as if it could bite you if you weren't careful. Leo shivered.

"What!" Mecane exclaimed in shock. "Don't be stupid!"

Ezra raised his dagger, showing that he could still kill them.

"There are three of us and only two of your daggers, even if you kill me my friends here will surely end your miserable life," Mecane stated.

"Are you willing to bet your life on that?" Ezra rebutted.

Mecane opened his mouth like he was going to say something more, but his friend quickly stopped him. "Come on Mecane, just give it to them, we're going to be late," He said. Mecane looked at his friend and then back at Ezra. He spat and then removed his ring and laid it onto the floor.

"Pick it up if you dare, just try," He said in a deadly voice, "Nothing but thieves."

With that, the trio started to ride away. Mecane was the last to leave, glaring hard at Leo and Ezra, no doubt imprinting their faces onto his black list. Then his eyes rested onto Leo. His eyes slid all over Leo, looking him up and down. He frowned, then he galloped away, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Once they had gone, Leo stared at Ezra. He had just faced down three mages,even if they were untrained boys, by himself.

"Should we pick it up?" Leo asked. Ezra shook his head.

"I was just teaching them a lesson for setting our woods on fire," he replied. "Come on let's go home." Ezra stomped off, leaving Leo to himself.

Leo glanced at the ring. He couldn't resist it. Stepping carefully over the ring, he bent down to look at it. It looked simple enough. What if it really is protected? Leo thought dreadfully. Will it turn me into a snail or burn me to ashes?

Leo looked at it again. His trained eye told him that this ring could fetch him a lot of money in the Town Market. He couldn't just leave it; they money could sustain him, Ma and Ezra for some time with the amount it could bring. Taking out a piece of cloth, he grabbed the ring. A tingling sensation crawled up his arm and Leo shifted his sleeve backwards, revealing a green tattoo of a dragon on his arm. He had that tattoo since birth according to Ma and it was obviously Magic, seeing how it always seemed to stay the same size no matter how much he grew.

He wasn't dead. He wasn't turned into a snail or burnt to cinders.

Leo shrugged off the feeling and tucked the ring into his bag together with the things he had collected earlier.

Later he would sell this ring, but not to the Town Market. The Town Market was full of cheap people who would do anything to make a profit. He had other plans for it.

* * *

**A/N: **Sulfuric Plains was just a place I made up, it's supposed to be just below a really large volcano. Read and Review please, thanks!


	3. Magicians

**Magicians**

Princess Reiya sat grumpily in her room as her fairy maid, Arwen, busily combed her long elaborate blue hair. Reiya yelped as Arwen parted the locks in her hair. "Seriously Arwen, can't we just go already?" she whined.

Arwen peered over at her, her tiny face half hidden by the hairbrush. "No princess, and I mean _no _princess, has ever went on a trip without first looking presentable, even your mother, Queen Elizabeth." Arwen commented wryly.

"But mother's away on a business trip with Sabine isn't she? Come on, spare me the...Ouch!" Reiya yelled as Arwen swiped the hairbrush mercilessly through her long blue hair.

After what seemed to be ages of squirming, Arwen finally declared her clear, before walking over to one of her cupboards to choose one of her many pristine clothing. Reiya lived in a rather tiny but surprisingly comfortable room. Her bed leaned against the pink walls of her room, flowery curtains shading the bed from god knows what insects. Diagonally across her bed, was a small table she had placed for her daily cosmetics. Of course it was forced upon her by her mother, demanding that she look at the least as ladylike as she could manage.

Reiya sighed and sat down onto the small ornate chair, staring at her reflection in the mirror. If other people were to look at her, they would see a pretty girl with long blue hair cascading down her back, her eyes beautiful and mesmerizing. She sighed, that wasn't what she saw in her reflection. All she saw was a girl trapped in gilded cage, yearning for freedom, to search for something she had always wanted her whole life. An adventure.

Arwen came up behind her, a pink-frilled dress in hand. Reiya turned and accepted the dress and disappeared into her bathroom. Few moments, later, she came out, smiling, her eyes dazzling and her face refreshed and bright. Arwen nodded with satisfaction and ushered her on her way out, "Come on now princess, you can't keep Mecane waiting now can you?"

Reiya pursed her lips, "Alright alright, I'm going!" Reiya pushed her way out of her room and headed towards Henesys.

Reiya stared at Mecane as he rode towards her. Mecane rode uneasily, his eyes darting backwards as if there was something there. Suddenly Mecane caught sight of her and immediately jumped of his silver mane, motioning his friends to do the same. He knelt in front of Reiya and took her hand and kissed it on her ring finger. "I'm sorry I'm late princess, I was…held up," Mecane apologized. Reiya tilted her head inquisitively. "By what?" She asked.

Mecane shifted uneasily and looked to his friends for backup. Seeing no support there, he made an excuse, "We had to pick up a certain gift for you, princess," He stood up and fashioned out a box and opened it. Resting in the middle of a velvet cushion was a ruby necklace with intricate symbols crafted onto the gold chain around it. "It's an enchanted necklace your highness, I'm sure it will fit you well," Mecane raised an eyebrow. A faint smile touched her lips as she lifted it up to inspect it.

"Well…it is quite pretty I guess," Reiya swung it round her neck as it clasped itself into place. Whipping her staff out from the air, she spun in a circle. Instantly, flowers began to bloom all around her and even the animals nearby started to call out in ecstasy. Reiya placed down her staff, the flowers withering instantly. "This is a nice necklace, thank you Mecane Cayer of Arcanus," She said, doing a curtsey, smiling inwardly to herself.

Mecane bowed, and then he clapped his hands twice elaborately. His magician friends immediately brought out a picnic mat from their void pack. The void packs look like normal brown backpacks, but are actually magically enhanced to store a fair number of goods of any size, to some extent.

Soon, they had a fair amount of food and drinks on the picnic mat, kindly provided by Mecane and his friends. Reiya sat down, her legs resting against the side. She picked up a slice of cheese and nibbled on it like a mouse. She looked up to a hole in the canopy, where the clear blue sky showed. She felt a surge of happiness go through her. "The feeling of being free…" She whispered under her breath. She turned to lie down on the mat to gaze at the trees and the patch of sky as she nibbled on her cheese.

Suddenly she felt someone sit down beside her. She turned to see Mecane staring upwards too. He lay backwards and looked at her, a smile on his lips. "It feels wonderful to be out of the palace once in a while doesn't it?" Reiya blinked in surprise and nodded. "Back in my guild, everything has an order to it, jobs to do, things to be done. I was lucky to rise up to become the star student, or I wouldn't be here enjoying the air…" His voice trailed off. Reiya chose not to reply and closed her eyes, letting the feel of nature envelope her.

It wasn't until much later when Reiya finally awoke to the sound of flames. Mecane was already standing up to her left side, his wand in his hand as he faced the left. "What's going in on?" She asked sleepily. He looked down at her and voice and blushed slightly. "Princess Reiya…the place is on fire, we have to leave now!"

Reiya reached out for her staff and grasped it as she stood up. Mecane and his friends were fighting against the fire that raged meters high in the tall grass, their wands freezing wherever they could. Reiya caught sight of the fire. "Black fire? Isn't that a magician's flame?" Reiya questioned. Mecane looked at her, flustered, "It must have been a stray shot from a magician's wand," He said lamely.

"We can't fight these flames; we have to leave, now!" Mecane's slender friend shouted, before turning to run towards the safety of higher ground.

"But what about the flames?" Reiya yelled.

"We'll leave the villagers to settle it themselves," Mecane's other friend replied and turned to follow the first.

Mecane spun around to follow his friends, but paused and gazed at Reiya. "Come on princess, let's leave!"

Reiya shook her head. She was determined to stop this fire; it would be irresponsible to leave.

Mecane gritted his teeth and turned to run from the growing flames, not turning back even once.

Reiya turned to the roaring flames, licking greedily at everything it could touch. She held her staff before her, prepared to fight the flames. _Those cowards, when I get back from this I'll make sure they get lessons on courage._


End file.
